Printing quotation board



0d, 6, 1936. HOOVER ET 2,056,452

PRINTING QUOTATION BOARD Original Filed May 9, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 1OPEN E E BE HIGH l] El 8 D, 5 LOW m@ m a m /21 -TREND INVENTOR- I RAYHOOVER BY EVAN WHEELER 6 AT ORNEY- Oct. 6, 1936. R. HOOVER ET ALPRINTING QUOTATION BOARD" Original Filed May 9, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 2'Hl HM,

FIG. 8

INVENTOR- RAY HOOVER BY EVAN R WHEELER ATi f h Oct. 6, 1936. R. HOOVERET AL 2,056,452

' PRINTING QUOTATION BOARD Original Filed May 9, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 3STOCK B STOCK A OPEN HIGH

LOW

TREND l9 INVENTOR- RAY HOOVER BY EVAN R. WHEELER Patented Oct. 6, 1936UNl'l'ED STATES PATENT FFIQE PRINTING QUOTATION BOARD ration of New YorkOriginal application May 9, 1930, Serial No.

451,140. Patent No. her 4, 1934.

1,972,341, dated Septem- Divided and this application August 2'7, 1931,Serial No. 559,765

16 Claims.

This invention relates to a quotation board mechanism and moreparticularly to apparatus for visibly indicating or posting informationconcerning different items such as stock, bond and commodity quotationsin response to telegraph signals. This application is a division ofapplication Ser. No. 451,140, filed May 9, 1930, entitled QuotationBoard System and Apparatus, and issued September 4, 1934, as Patent No.1,972,341.

One system of posting stock quotations automatically at a plurality ofseparate places such as brokers offices and banks from a commontransmitting point, now in use, involves the use of four channels ofcommunication extending between i the transmitting station and thereceiving quotation board apparatus, separate channels being employed totransmit signals corresponding to each of the hundreds, tens, units andfractions (in eighths) values of the quotation. The four transmittingchannels may comprise four separate line wires or two line wires eachhaving battery of positive and negative polarity applied alternatelythereto in a series of impulses, in conjunction with polarized relays atthe receiving station, for responding to the polarity of the currenttransmitted over each of the lines. A single line wire may be employed,of course, with a rotary distributor at the receiving station fordistributing the signal impulses to the four control channels of thequotation board apparatus.

The quotation board as heretofore constructed employs a group of fourindicating units each having a dial or drum bearing the numerals l to 9,0 and a blank, the four units being disposed side by side behindsuitable apertures so that when properly set up the numerals on thedials may be directly observed to give the quotation. Ordinarily, fiveof such groups of indicators are provided for each stock or itemcorresponding to the yesterdays close, open, high, low, and lastquotations of the stock.

The four control channels are also employed for selecting concurrentlythe range and the stock. For this purpose, each group of indicatorscomprising the range; i. e., the yesterdays close, open, high, low, andlast quotations, and combinations thereof are designated by single digitnumbers and each stock is arbitrarily designated by a three digitnumber, the stocks having the greatest volume of sales and hence thosemost often quoted being designated by digits of low order as 111, 121,211, etc.

The range is selected by transmitting over channel one for instance, anumber of electrical impulses corresponding to the digit number of therange to be posted and the stock is selected by sending over channelstwo, three and four impulses corresponding in number to the hundreds,tens and units digits, respectively, of the stock designating number.The receiving apparatus in response to such impulses selects the stockand range and subsequently operates to transfer the four transmittingchannels from the selecting mechanism to the magnet windings of the fourindicating units of the range and stock selected. Each indicator unitmay then be operated by transmitting the required number of impulsesover the channels connected thereto.

In order to eliminate accumulative errors, means is preferably providedfor restoring each indicator to blank or unison position beforetransmitting the quotation or answer. The restoration is accomplished bytransmitting a series of ten impulses over each channel to step theindicators around to blank position. The ten impulses are sufiicient torestore any of the indicators to unison position even in the mostunfavorable setting thereof and if this position is reached with aparticular indicator before the entire ten restoration impulses havebeen applied thereto, the ground connection is automatically removedfrom the winding of the indicator magnet so that the remaining impulsesare ineffective to rotate the indicator further. At the conclusion ofthe transmission of the restoration impulses the ground connection isautomatically restored to each indicator magnet so that it will respondto a further group of impulses termed the answer group, corresponding innumber to the number of the digit of the quotation to be posted, so asto set the indicator dials in the desired position.

The present invention has for one of its objects to provide a printingapparatus for a quotation board which may be operated by the same typeof signals as those employed in the above system and which may beoperated concurrently with such indicator boards from the same signals.

Another object is to provide a printing apparatus which may be employedin place of any of the groups of indicator units used in the so-calledindicator boards and in which no change is required in the transmittedsignals or in the indicator board control apparatus, to operate thesame.

Another object is to produce stock quotation boards in which differentcombinations of indicator units and printing units may be employed, thatis, in which the quotations of certain stocks may be posted by means ofindicators, others by printing the quotation on suitable paper tapes incharacters of sufficient size to be discerned. at a distance and inwhich the quotations of still other stocks may be posted by the use ofindicators for certain of the ranges such as yesterdays close, open,high, and low and by printing mechanism for other of the ranges as thelast, all of said arrangements being usable for different stocks on thesame board and different boards being arranged differently, all of saidboards being operable by the same transmitted signals.

Further and more specific objects, features and advantages will moreclearly appear from the detailed description given below taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings which form a part of thespecification.

The invention consists in the novel features of construction,arrangement, combination of parts, and electrical connectionsconstituting the printing and paper feed unit and the control mechanismtherefor and in the combination of such unit with the indicator units,as hereinafter described by way of example only, as being illustrativeof one embodiment of the invention.

Reference will be had to the accompanying drawings for a detaileddescription of the invention wherein:

Figure 1 is a front view of a portion of a stock quotation board havingprovision for a number of stocks, in which a combination of indicatorunits and printing mechanism is used for each stock or item;

Figure 2 is a vertical section through the indicator board shown inFigure 1;

Figure 3 is a side elevation of a fragment of one of the printing units,shown in its relation to the face of the quotation board.

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view of one of the type wheel units;

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view of the paper feeding and meteringdevice taken on the line 55 of Figure 3;

Figure 6 is a horizontal sectional view of the paper metering mechanismon the line 6-6 of Figure 5;

Figure 7 is an exploded View of the commutator employed in connectionwith each type wheel for controlling the application to and removal ofground from the windings of the type wheel operating magnets;

Figure 8 is a horizontal sectional View of the indicator unit on theline 8-8 of Figure 2;

Figure 9 is a diagrammatic illustration of the electrical equipment andcontrol circuits for the indicator units of a stock or item in which thelast quotation is posted, in one instance by means of a printing unitand in the other instance by means of direct reading indicators; and

Figure 10 is a somewhat diagrammatic view of a remote control system fora plurality of boards of different types.

A system for transmitting signals representative of stock or other itemquotations, is described in a co-pending application of R. Steeneck,Serial No. 414,105, filed December 14, 1929, entitled Signaltransmitting apparatus and issued January 30, 1934, as Patent No.1,945,420, and in a co -pending application of R. Hoover, Serial No.406,357, filed November 11, 1929, entitled Selecting and indicatingsystem, and issued October 9, 1934, as Patent No. 1,976,398, a receivingapparatus is described, which is particularly adapted for the operationof a stock quotation or bulletin board in response to transmittedsignals to automatically select a stock and a particular range thereof,such as the yesterdays close, open, high, low, or last quotation and tooperate a series of indicators for posting a desired price or quotationof such selected stock.

The printing mechanism comprising the present invention is soconstructed and arranged that it may be operated directly from thesystem and apparatus described in the said Hoover application in placeof or concurrently with any of the indicator units and without the useof any additional apparatus or changes in the circuit arrangement.

Reference will now be had to Figures 1 and 2 in which we have shown aportion of a quotation board comprising a front panel 29 having a numberof apertures or windows 2! behind which are disposed a plurality ofdirect reading indicator units 22 and a printing unit 23. Four groups ofdirect reading indicator units 24, 25, 26 and 21 are provided for eachstock appearing at the corresponding respectively to the yesterdaysclose, open, high, and low quotations of the stock, each group ofindicators consisting of four units 29, 30, 3! and 32.

Each indicator unit has a drum or cylinder 18 bearing digit charactersadapted to be rotated around by a step by step movement, by means of amagnet l9 in response to electrical impulses, so as to bring the propercharacter appearing on the drum into view through the windows 2 i. Eachdrum is operated entirely independently of every other drum as willappear hereinafter, the construction of the indicator unit beingsubsequently explained more fully with reference to Figure I. In placeof the four indicator units corresponding to the last quotation, theprinting unit 23 is employed.

The printing unit has four type wheels 33h, 331E, 33a and 33), by meansof which the hundreds, units, tens and fractions values of the lastquotation are printed upon a strip of paper 34 which extends from a reel35, beneath the type wheels 33 and downward across the face of the panel20 to a take-up roller 35 upon which it is rewound. The printing occursat the lower side of the type wheels 33 after which the paper isautomatically fed downward along the board a distance sufficient tobring the printed quotation into view. A sufiicient length of paper isprovided at the face of the board to expose a number of successive quotations of each stock, so as to give the trend of the market for apredetermined number of quotations.

In accordance with the usual method of operating indicator stockquotation boards, at the conclusion of each days business the indicatorsmay be set in their blank positions, with the exception of theyesterdays close indicators, which are operated to post the lastquotation of the day in readiness for the opening of the market on thesucceeding day. At the opening of the market when the first sale occursof any particular stock the indicators corresponding to the open, highlow and last quotations are connected in parallel through the selectingsystem and the first sale simultaneously recorded upon each of theseindicators. Subsequent sales occurring during the day actuate the lastgroup of indicators only, except in those cases in which the last salealso establishes a new high or a new low for the day, in which eventeither the high or low indicators are operated simultaneously with thelast indicators. It will be noted that the last indicators are operatedin each case.

The printing unit 23 is so constructed, as will appear in detailhereinafter, that it may be operated directly from the same signalswhich are employed for operating the last indicators, the printing unitand paper feed operations occurring automatically without thetransmission of any special or additional signals or without any changein the control apparatus employed for operating the last group of directreading indicators, other than an extra contact upon one of the relaysof the stock selecting system. Therefore, the quotation board, may atthe selection of each broker, employ direct reading indicators entirelyfor certain stocks and printing apparatus in combination with indicatorsfor other stocks or the board may be composed entirely of printing unitsin case range quotations other than the last are not desired and theprinting boards or combination indicator and printing boards may beoperated from the same signals and over the same system employed foroperating the indicator boards, as will appear from reference to Fig.10.

Reference will now be had to Figures 3 to 6 for a detailed descriptionof the printing unit. The four type wheels 33h, 3315, 3511. and 33corresponding to the hundreds, tens, units and fractions digits of thequotation to be printed are mounted for individual rotation upon a fixedshaft 40. Each wheel is provided with a star or ratchet wheel M by whichit is individually operated with a step-by-step movement by a doublearmed pawl or anchor 62 pivoted upon a shaft 53 which is common to eachtype wheel unit. The pawls 42 each have a right angled armature portionM by means of which they are actuated by an individ ual electro-magnetG5.

The type wheels rotate in a counter-clockwise direction as viewed inFigure 2. Each stroke of the armature 14, in a closing direction, inresponse to an electrical impulse transmitted to the magnet l5, causesthe upper pallet of the pawl to move downwardly against a tooth of theratchet wheel to rotate the same counter-clockwise one twentysecond of arevolution. Upon release of the armature, the pawl 52 is moved upwardlyby a retractile spring 416 to cause the lower pallet of the pawl toengage the ratchet wheel tomove the same in the same direction anothertwentysecond of a revolution.

The type wheel has eleven flat sides bearing the characters l to 5 andEl and a blank side. It is moved the distance of one character for eachimpulse received by its operating magnet 45.

Each type wheel unit comprises in addition to the type wheel 33, andratchet wheel 4!, a commutator 55, the unit being mounted upon a sleeve55 bearing on the shaft ill). The ratchet wheel All is mounted upon areduced portion 57 of the sleeve 56 and is secured to the sleeve by apin 58. The reduced end of the sleeve is offset at a number of points 59to further secure the ratchet wheel thereto. The type wheel 53 ismounted on a reduced portion (ii of the sleeve for a limited rotationthereon and is retained against lateral movement by a disc or washer 62carried by a further reduced portion 63 of. the sleeve 55. Thecommutator 55, the construction of which will be presently described,abuts against the washer 62. The commutator is fixed in definite angularposition relative to the sleeve 55 by offsetting the reduced portion 55of the sleeve 56 into the outer face of the commutator, as indicated bythe numeral 65.

Obviously, the type wheels may be set in printing position by rotatingthe same from the last set position until the proper character is movedinto printing position or the printing wheels may be restored beforeeach printing operation to a predetermined or unison position, as forinstance with the blank portion thereof in printing position, and thenset in the correct printing position by transmitting to their operatingmagnets, impulses corresponding in number to the digit which it isdesired to print. We prefer to employ the latter method of operation inorder to bring the same into accord with the method employed foroperating the direct reading indicator units, so that the printingmechanism may be operated in combination with an indicator board or fromthe same signals employed for operating the indicator board.

The commutator 55 mounted rigidly with the ratchet Wheel for rotationtherewith, provides the means for controlling the restoration of theprinting wheels to such predetermined or unison position prior totransmitting the impulses corresponding to the new quotation. Referringto Figure 7 which is an exploded view of the commutator it comprises aninsulating disc l2 having a disc shaped metallic contact member '83mounted upon one side thereof, the contact member l3 having a tubularhub l4 extending through the insulating disc and being riveted over asshown at i5 against the opposite side of the insulating disc to securethese parts together. An annular metallic contact member It is disposedat the opposite side of the insulating disc 72 from the contact member13 and is secured to the disc by tabs ll which extend over the edge ofthe disc. The contact member 13 has a sector cut away and the contactmember it has a sector 18 disposed within the cut away portion of themember l3. The sector l8 and annular contact member iii are insulatedfrom the contact l3 and each of these contacts are provided with brushesl5 and respectively. The commutator is mounted relative to the typewheel in such angular position that the sector '88 is engaged by thebrush when the blank portion of the type wheel is in the printingposition.

The contact member 73 is grounded, as by means of a contact strip 82.The brushes l9 and 85 are mounted upon an offset portion 83 of thebracket 39 and are provided with terminal lugs Bi and 8H for making theelectrical connections thereto. Lug BI is connected by conductor 84 toone terminal of the operating magnet, the opposite terminal of themagnet being connected to the line as will appear fully hereinafter andlug Si is connected, as by conductor 85 to a contact of. the selectingmechanism (no-t shown) whereby it may be selectively grounded.

The operation of the commutator is as follows. When it is desired torestore the printing wheels to their predetermined initial positionprior tomaking a new setting, ten restoration impulses are supplied tothe operating magnets through the selecting apparatus, as fullydescribed in the aforesaid Hoover application, the operating circuit forthe magnet 55 being completed through the brush 80 and the groundedcontact 73.

Assuming for instance, that the type wheel was set to print thecharacter for the numeral 6, the first five impulses would step the typewheel around to bring the numerals l, 8, 9, 5, and the blank portionthereof, successively into the printing position. At the moment theblank portion of the wheel reaches the printing position, the brushengages sector [78 of the commutator which, as stated before, isinsulated from the grounded contact 13. The segment 16 of the commutatoris ungrounded at the selecting mechanism at this time, and consequently,the circuit to the magnet is not completed during the transmission ofthe remaining five restoration impulses. The type wheel thereforeremains set in its unison or blank position at the end of thetransmission of the restoration impulses.

The ten unison or restoration impulses enable the type wheel to be setin blank position in the most unfavorable previous setting thereof, thatis, with the numeral I in printing position.

At the conclusion of the restoration impulses, the selecting mechanismoperates to apply a ground through the brush it? to the sector H1. Therequired number of impulses for stepping the type wheel into the newposition may then be transmitted, the grounded circuit of magnet beingcompleted through the sector 78 and brush 79. As soon as the firstimpulse is received the commutator rotates to place the contact 73 inengagement with the brush all so as to restore the normal ground to themagnet, the actuating ground at the same time being removed from thesector 18 in readiness for the next restoration cycle. The operatingcircuit connections for the printing unit and the direct readingindicators which may be associated therewith are shown more fully inFigure 9 and will later be described with particular reference thereto.

Separate inking rollers 90, rest upon each type wheel. Since the typewheels rotate to each printing position through the unison position,they make an average of one complete revolution for each quotationprinted. In certain instances, where the wheel is set to print a numberof high digit, as nine, and the succeeding quotation involves theprinting of a number of low digit, as one, the low digit character willnot be carried past the inking roller in moving into printing positionand therefore, will not be inked immediately preceding printing. Twosuccessive occurrences of this condition cannot occur, however, withouta complete revolution of. the type wheel and complete inking thereof.

Prior to the opening of the exchange, each morning for the transactionof business, a number of groups of unison or restoration signals aretransmitted for each stock and a thorough inking of the type wheels thuseffected at this time. In the case of those stocks or items which areactive, the type wheels will make successive revolutions past the inkingrollers at frequent intervals. In the case of the less active stocks, aconsiderable period may elapse between each operation of the printingwheels. Ordinarily the character to be printed will be inked justpreceding the printing operation but in order to provide for thoseoccasions referred to, in which two successive printings occur a longtime apart, without an intermediate inking of the character to beprinted, a slow drying ink should be employed. Inks are available and ingeneral use on stock quotation tickers which will remain moist on thetype wheel under favorable atmospheric conditions for several days andwhich under the most severe conditions met in operation, will remainsufficiently moist to make a good impression, for several hours. Anadequate inking of the type wheels is therefore assured at all times.

It will be readily understood that in printing successive quotations ofthe same stock it will be unnecessary to reset the type wheels for theentire hundreds, tens, units and fractions Values of the quotation butonly for those values in which changes occur since the last precedingquotation. The remaining type wheels may be left in their last setposition or may be returned to blank or unison position, therebyprinting only the changes occurring in the quotation. The hundreds,tens, units and fractions digits will always be printed in the samerelative position transversely of the paper tape and when a single digitas the fractions or units is printed alone the column or positioning ofthe printing will indicate ordinarily whether the printed characterrepresents a units or fractions value of the quotation. However, inorder to avoid confusion and to definitely indicate fractions valuesfrom units values irrespective of position on the tape, we prefer toprint the fractions in a distinctive manner either as to color or formor both.

The provision of individual inking rollers for each type wheel and theuse of individual type wheels for each digit of the quotation, permitssuch distinctive color to be employed for the fractions. We prefer toemploy red ink for the fractions inking roller and black or otherdifierently colored ink for the units, tens, and hundreds rollers.

The paper strip 34 upon which the printing is recorded is of a widthsunicient to extend across the face of the four type Wheels and extendsfrom the roll 35, mounted between the side plates 53 and 54, over ametering roller 95, thence beneath the type wheels and around an idlerroller 96 and through an aperture 91 to the front of the indicator boardpanel 20. The idler roller 96 is mounted between oifset lugs 98 at theends of a plate 99 which extends crosswise between the side plates 53and 54.

Individual platens or hammers Hi0, are positioned beneath each typewheel and have stems HH pivoted thereto by pins I02, the stems havingvertical sliding engagement in apertures in the cross plate 99. Theheads of the platens normally rest on the plate 99 and the lower ends ofthe stems are disposed directly above a universal platen actuating barH13 pivoted centrally on a pin H34 in the forked upper end of theplunger H35 of a printing solenoid N16. The plunger N35 is returned toits lower position after each printing stroke by a coiled spring )8secured to an extension llll of the pivot pin M34. The solenoid ismounted between the arms of the U-shaped bracket I09.

After the type wheels have been set in printing position, the solenoidI06 is energized, as will hereinafter appear, to raise the universal barHi3 against the platen stems, to move the platens upwardly against thepaper 34 and force the same into contact with the type Wheels. Thepivoted connection between the plunger W5 and the universal bar I03compensates for any inaccuracy in the construction of the actuatingmechanism and insures all of the platens making a complete stroke. Thepivoted mounting of the platens on the stems compensates for slightirregularities in the setting of the type wheel or in the location ofthe characters thereon.

The paper is maintained under constant tension by the take up mechanismdisposed at the lower end of the board, and the paper is fed forward,after each printing operation, a distance sufiicient to bring theprinted quotation into view at the front of the board.

The paper is gripped between the knurled surface of the metering rollers95 and knurled rollers H5 positioned adjacent each margin of the paper.The rollers II5 are mounted on the ends of levers H9 pivoted on stubshafts III threaded into the side plates 53 and 59 respectively, andeach wheel is pressed against the metering roller by a spring II8.

The shaft of metering roller 95 is pivoted on pin bearings I22 in theside plates 59 and 59 and is retained against rotation under the tensionof the paper by a stop wheel I23 having a shoulder I24 engaging a stoparm I25 pivoted on a pin I25 threaded into a bracket I2'I suspended fromthe cross plate 99. The stop arm is normally held in engagement with theshoulder of the stop wheel by a spring I29 encircling the pivot I29 andhaving one end engaging the lower end of the stop arm. A latch ISI,pivoted at I39 in a recess in the cross plate 99, is pressed upwardly bythe opposite end of the spring I29, against a pin I99 carried by thestop arm I25. The latch is notched at I95 to engage the pin I39 when thestop arm is moved out of engagement with the stop wheel.

A lever I39, pivoted at I31 to the bracket I2I, has a. forked end I38 inwhich the end of the pin I99 engages to rock the lever each time theplunger I95 operates to print a quotation. The lever I39 carries a dogI49 pivoted thereto at MI, an end of the dog normally extending over theshoulder I92 of the stop arm I25.

Upon upward movement of the solenoid plunger, the left end (Figure 5) ofthe lever I39 is swung downwardly, the dog I99 engaging the shoulder I42of the stop arm, and pivoting to the position shown in dotted lines inFigure 5 against the action of a coiled spring I93 until the shoulder M2is cleared and then moving down below the inclined lower edge Hi l ofthe stop arm. Upon the return or downward stroke of the plunger, theleft end of the lever, in swinging up, carries the dog in to contactwith the inclined face of the stop arm and re-acting against the stoppin I45, throws the stop arm out of engagement with the stop wheel. PinI34 engaging in notch I35 of the latch I3I holds the stop arm withdrawn.The metering roller shaft 95 is thus freed to rotate, under the tensionof the paper 34, in a clockwise direction, as seen in Figure 3. Duringthe first part of this rotation the eccentric portion of the stop wheelengages the free end of the latch I3I, depresses it and permits the stoparm to return under the action of spring I29 into position to again stopthe metering roller shaft after it has made one revolution.

The diameter of the metering roller is such as to permit the printedportion of the paper to be drawn into view at the front of the board.

The paper passes down the face of the board and through an aperture I59at the bottom thereof and around an idler roller I5I to the take-uproller 39, mounted between the side plates 53 and 54. A gear I52 fixedto the take-up roller meshes with an idler gear I53, meshing in turnwith a gear I54 driven by a spring motor, not shown.

Reference will now be had to Figures 2 and 8 which show the constructionof the indicator units 22 which may be employed in conjunction with theprinting unit. The indicator unit comprises a rectangular casing I82having the drum I9 bearing the characters I to 9, 9 and a blank portion,mounted on a vertical shaft I89 bearing in the frame I82. The drum has astar or ratchet wheel 4| secured to the upper side thereof, and acommutator similar to commutator 55 of the printing unit, fixed to theunderside. The magnet I9 mounted within the casing has an armature I9w,pivoted on a vertical shaft I84, the armature having a right angledextension terminating in the two armed pawl 92 which engages the starwheel to step the drum around. A spring 99 moves the pawl in theopposite direction. A pair of brushes I9 and 99 engage the oppositesides of the commutator to control the application of a ground to thewinding of the magnet I9. The casing has an aperture or window in itsfront side to cause a single character to be exposed at a time.

In Figure 9 we have shown the circuit connections for operating thequotation board units of two stocks or items B and A. Stock B comprisesfour groups of direct reading indicators, the operating magnets I9 onlyof which are shown, corresponding to the yesterdays close, open, highand low quotations, and a printing unit for printing the last quotationor trend, the printing wheel operating magnets 45 only being shown. Theboard mechanism for stock A is similar to that of stock B except thatdirect reading indicator units are employed for posting the lastquotation in place of the printing unit.

The mechanism and system by which the particular stocks and the range,that is whether yesterdays close, open, high, low or last quotations, tobe posted are selected, forms no part of the present invention, beingfully disclosed in said aforesaid application of R. Hoover. A portiononly of the operating circuit is shown for the purpose of explanation.

The four channels of communication over which the signal impulses foroperating the hundreds, tens, units and fractions magnets arerepresented by the conductors I95, I99, IB'I and I88 respectively. Eachof these conductors extend in multiple to the contacts of a group ofrange relays I90, I9I, I92, I99 and I94, which determine which group ofmagnets I9 or 45 of any particular stock are to be operated. The rangerelays are controlled through the selecting mechanism (not shown)through conductors I95. The opposite contacts of each of the rangerelays I99 to I94 are connected to groups of conductors I9Iia, I9Ia,I92a, I93a and I99a common to the entire board and from which multipleconnections I991), I9Ib, I921), I931) and I991) are made to themulti-contact stock relay I96 of each stock. The stock relays are alsoselectively controlled through the selecting mechanism, to determine theparticular stock, the magnets I9 or 95 of which are to be operated. Theconnections I991) to I99!) are continued through the contacts of therelay I99 to the windings of the magnets of the yesterdays close, open,high, low and last indicators or printing units.

The switch tongues I9'I and associated contacts I98 and I99 representdiagrammatically the commutator 55 or 55' and serves when on contact I98to apply the normal ground 299 to the magnet windings, the tonguereversing to contact I99 when the indicator drums orprinting wheels arein unison or blank position, to remove the normal ground and connect themagnet windings to the ground control contacts of the selectingmechanism through conductor 29 I.

Upon closing of one of the stock relays I99, as that for stock B, andone of the range relays, as

relay I94, the four signal conductors I85 to I88 are connected directlyto the windings of the type wheel magnets 65 and upon transmission ofthe ten unison or restoration impulses over the lines,

the type wheels will be moved to unison or blank position and held thereby removal of the normal ground 200 from the magnet windings.Thereafter, and before the signals corresponding to the new quotationare transmitted over the lines I85 to I 88, a ground is applied to theconductor 20I to cause the magnets to respond to the subsequent signalimpulses. If the new quotation to be printed is 147%, for instance, oneimpulse would be transmitted over line I35 to set the hundreds printingwheel, four over line I86, seven over line I81 and five over line N38 toset the tens units and fractions wheels respectively, in readiness forthe operation of the printing solenoid I06.

It will be understood that by operating two or more of the range relays,as the last and high relays I94 and I92 that the group of highindicators and the printing unit may be operated simultaneously.

The control circuit for the solenoid I includes a locking relay 205 anda control relay 206. The winding of relay 208 is grounded at one end andconnected to one contact 201 of the stock relay I95, the cooperatingcontact having a source of potential applied thereto. Upon closing ofthe stock relay I90 to select a particular stock, relay 205 picks up andapplies battery through its front contact to the grounded winding oflocking relay 205 which then operates to complete a locking circuit frombattery 208, left hand front contact of relay 205, and contacts 209 and2I0 to the mid-point of the winding of relay 205. A circuit is alsoprepared for the solenoid I06 from the ground 2II, right hand contact ofrelay 205 and conductor 2 I2 to one terminal of the solenoid I00, thecircuit being open at the back contact of relay 206.

This circuit condition is established upon selection of the stock andprior to transmitting the restoration and quotation signal impulses. Atthe completion of the transmission of these signals, the stock relay I96releases and in so doing causes the tongue of relay 200 to drop back onits back contact, thus completing the circuit to the solenoid 05 andcausing the same to operate to complete the printing operation. Theupward movement of the plunger, through extension 2I3 opens the contacts209 and 2I0 thus interrupting the locking circuit of relay 205 and thedownward stroke of the solenoid plunger, releases the metering roller tofeed the printed quotation into View. The contacts 209 and 2I0 are shownin Figure 9.

The exposed portion of the paper at the front of the board may be of anydesired length and preferably should show from ten to twenty quotations.However, at times a broker or one of his customers may desire to examinethe quotations on a portion of the tape which has already been wound inthe take-up roller and this may be accomplished by merely grasping thepaper and pulling it outwardly at the front of the board. The springmotor associated with gear I54 is tightened up by this action and servesto rewind the paper on the take-up roller when the paper is released.

At the time the paper is held withdrawn from the take-up roller, thetension on the paper is released at the metering roller 95 and should aprinting occur at this time it would not feed out into view. The latchI3| serves to hold the stop arm I25 out of engagement with the stopwheel after the printing so that when tension is restored to the paper,the metering roller is free to make a revolution and feed the quotationinto View.

It is obvious of course that the metering roller may be positivelydriven so as to rotate one revolution each time the stop arm iswithdrawn from engagement with the stop wheel, as through a slip clutchor spring motor. Furthermore, the winding magnet I66 may be sup-pliedwith impulses from a purely local impulse generator instead of using thesignal impulses or a winding motor individual to each printing unit orcommon to a number of units, may be employed.

It will be noted that a printing unit has been produced in which thetype wheels may be set simultaneously or in succession and in which theprinting from all four type wheels is accomplished in a single operationof the platen. The printing and paper feeding is effected automaticallywithout the transmission of any special or extra signals other thanthose required to effect the stock selection and no changes are requiredin the selecting and control apparatus and circuits employed forquotation boards employing indicator units, other than the addition ofan extra contact to the stock relay. The printing apparatus is rapid inoperation and will keep pace with the indicator units and operates onthe same signals whereby printing quotation boards, indicator quotationboards or combinations of indicator and printing quotation boards may beoperated in the same transmitting system.

In Figure we have illustrated a quotation board system comprisingtransmitting station equipment 220 located at the stock exchange orother central point and a number of quotation boards 22I, 222 and 223,which may be located in different brokers ofiices. Each quotation boardprovides facilities for posting four stocks, A, B, C, and D. Board 22Iuses direct reading indicators 22 for the entire range of quotations,that is, for the yesterdays close, open, high, low, and last quotation.Board 222 employs direct reading indicators 22 for the yesterdays close,open, high, and low quotations and a printing unit 23 for posting thetrend of the market. Board 223 dispenses with all direct readingindicators and employs only printing units 23 for each stock for postingthe trend.

Each board is operated from the common transmitting equipment 220 overthe same group of conductors 224, four conductors being employed tocontrol the hundreds, tens, units, and fractions indicators or typewheels. At each quotation board a relay 225 is included in series witheach of the conductors 224 and the transmitted signals are thus repeatedto the stock and range selecting mechanism 226 which controls thequotation board mechanism.

It is possible thus, to transmit a group of signals over the lines 224representative, for instance, of the last and high quotation of stock Aand to simultaneously operate all of the boards therefrom, the last andhigh direct reading indicators of stock A operating at board 22I, thehigh indicators and printing unit oper- .ating at board 222, and theprinting unit alone operating at board 223. Various other arrangementsand combinations of printing units and direct reading indicators may beused. For instance, all three arrangements or any two thereof shown inFigure 20 may be used with a single board for different stocks or items.The transmitting equipment 226 may be of the construction described inthe aforesaid application of R. Steeneck and the stock and rangeselection mechanism 226 may be of the form shown in the Hooverapplication referred to above.

Obviously, other forms of direct reading indicators and printingmechanisms may be used, .as long as they respond to the same signals.Therefore we do not desire to be limited to the particular form shownand described but contemplate by the term direct reading indicators, asused in the appended claims, all forms of indicators in which thecharacter carrying member is viewed directly as distinguished from thosewhich produce a printed record from which the quotation is read.

Many changes and modifications of the struc ture will occur to thoseskilled in the art and we do not desire to be restricted to the specificconstruction shown and described.

What we claim is:

1. In a quotation board unit for posting information relating to aparticular item, a group of direct reading indicators individual to saidunit for indicating a certain range of values concerning said item, atape, a printing mechanism integral with said unit arranged to printupon said tape additional successive values relative to said item, andmeans for selectively operating simultaneously one or more of saidindicators and said printing mechanism for posting on said unitinformation concurrently both directly and in printed form.

2. In a quotation board unit for posting information relating to aparticular item, groups of indicator units arranged horizontally in eachgroup, said groups being disposed vertically one above the other, forindicating a certain range of information concerning said item, and aprinting mechanism arranged to print upon a vertically moving tapeadditional information in horizontal lines, and means for selectivelyoperating said indicator groups and printing mechanism either separatelyor together for posting said information in a vertically arrangedcolumn.

3. In a quotation board unit for displaying open, high, low and lastvalues of a particular item comprising a plurality of groups of directreading indicators for displaying the open, high and low values, and aprinting mechanism for displaying a number of successive last values inprinted form, operating signal channel means common to both the printingmeans and the groups of indicators, and means for selectively couplingthe printing mechanism and indicator groups separately or two or moretogether to the signal channel means whereby one or more values relatingto a single item may be individually displayed separately orconcurrently displayed together.

4. In a quotation board unit for displaying a quotation as the open,high, low or last value of a particular item comprising a plurality ofgroups of direct reading indicators for displaying the open, high andlow values, and a printing mechanism for displaying a number ofsuccessive last values in printed form, operating signal channel meanscommon to both the printing means and the groups of indicators fortransmitting operating signals thereto, and means for couplingselectively the printing mechanism and one or more of the indicatorgroups to such Signal channel means whereby a quotation maybe displayedsimultaneously as a last value in printed form and as one or more of theother of said values directly.

5. A unitary quotation board for posting information concerning aplurality of items regarding someof which it is desired to postinformation of a certain character which may include one or more types,and regarding others of which it is desired to post information ofanother character which may or may not include information of the firsttype, said board being subdivided into sections to be viewed as a unitand arranged for information of a predetermined character relating to aparticular item, said units being comprised either of one or more groupsof direct reading indicators or a printing means or both togetheraccording to the character of the information to be posted upon saidunit, signal channel means over which signals arrive for operating theposting means, and means for selectively connecting one or more of saidposting means to the signal channel means whereby the posting meansselected in each board unit may be operated to post the type ofinformation to which they are adapted from the same operating signals.

6. A unitary quotation board for posting one or more ranges ofinformation concerning a plurality of items, said board being subdividedinto sections to be viewed as a unit upon which information relating toa particular item is to be posted, each unit of said board comprisingone or more direct reading indicators for posting information as tocertain ranges to be received directly and a printing means for postingother ranges of information successively in printed form, means forselectively operating theindicators or the printing means separately ortogether for displaying upon said board one or more ranges of saidinformation in one or more forms.

7. A quotation board unit for posting one or more ranges of informationrelating to a particular item and having one or more groups of directreading indicators for posting information as to certain ranges, and aprinting means for posting other ranges of information successively inprinted form, and means responsive to received signals for selecting andoperating the printing means of said unit alone or together with one ort more of said indicator groups.

8. A quotation board unit for posting two or more ranges of informationrelating to a particular item and having one or more groups of directreading indicators for posting information as to certain ranges, and aprinting means for posting other ranges of information successively inprinted form, and means for selecting and operating said indicatorgroups and said printing means separately or together in response tosignals received for displaying upon said unit the information directly,as to any one of certain ranges, and in printed form, as to the otherranges.

9. A quotation board for posting a plurality of ranges of informationconcerning several items including a unit for each item comprising forcertain items a plurality of impulsively operated step-by-step directreading indicators, for certain other items an individual printingmechanism, including impulsively operated step-bystep printing wheels,and for still other items both indicators and a printing mechanism, saidindicators and printing mechanism being arranged for displayingdifierent ranges of the information, a pulse generator means common toboth the printing mechanism and the direct indicators and operating inresponse to signals received, and means responsive to the signals re-'lating to a particular item for selectively completing the circuits fromthe pulse generating means to said indicators and printing mechanismeither separately or together in accordance with units designated forthe item and the range or ranges of information to be displayed, andmeans included in the indicators and printing mechanism for steppingthose selected into position at the same time whereby they may beconcurrently set for posting the information.

10. In a quotation board unit for posting quoiations of several rangesconcerning a particular item, one or more groups of direct readingindicators for posting information as to certain ranges and having anindicator wheel for each digit of the quotation to be posted and aprinting mechanism for posting information as to certain other ranges inprinted form and likewise having a printing wheel for each digit, acommon circuit means for the respective digit wheels of each over whichpulses arrive for simultaneously setting the wheels of the indicatorsand the printing mechanism, and means for selectively connecting therespective digit wheels of the printing mechanism alone or together withthose of one or more groups of indicators to the common circuit means.

11. In a quotation board for posting information concerning a pluralityof items, a plurality of direct reading indicators for indicatingcertain information relative to said items, an individual printingmechanism for each of predetermined ones of said items for indicatingadditional information concerning said predetermined items, operatingsignal circuits common to both the direct reading indicators and theprinting mechanisms, actuating means individual to each of saidindicators and printing mechanisms, responsive to operating signalstransmitted over said signal circuits, and means for selectivelycompleting said signal circuits to said indicators and to said printingmechanism.

12. In a quotation board for posting informa- .tion concerning aplurality of items, a plurality of direct reading indicators for eachitem for indicating certain information relative to said item, anindividual printing mechanism for each item for indicating additionalinformation concerning said item, and means controlled from the samesource of signals for selectively operating said indicators and printingmechanism either separately or together.

13. In a quotation board for posting information concerning a pluralityof items, direct reading indicators for indicating certain informationconcerning said items, an individual printing mechanism for each ofpredetermined ones of said items for indicating additional informationrelating to said items, means for operating said indicators and printingmechanism by the same signals, signal conductors, and means forselectively connecting said conductors to said indicators and printingmechanism.

14. In a quotation board for posting information concerning a pluralityof items, a combination of direct reading indicators for displayingcertain information relative to said items, an individual printingmechanism for certain predetermined ones of said items for indicatingadditional information concerning the same, and selectively controlledmeans responsive to a single source of signals for operating saidindicators and printing mechanism together to display the sameinformation or for operating the same separately.

15. In a quotation board for posting information concerning a pluralityof items, a plurality of direct reading indicators for indicatingcertain information concerning said items, an individual printingmechanism for each item for recording the quotation of said items onindividual tapes, means for operating said indicators and printingmechanism from the same telegraph code signals, signal circuits, andmeans for selectively completing said signal circuits to said indicatorsor to said printing mechanism.

16. In a quotation board for posting information concerning the price ofa plurality of items, a plurality of direct reading indicators and anindividual printing mechanism for each of said items, means foroperating said indicators and printing mechanism by the same telegraphcode signals, and means for selectively operating said indicators andprinting mechanism either separately or together, said printingmechanism recording the last price quotation of said items, and saidindicators indicating the ranges of prices of said items.

RAY HOOVER. EVAN R. WHEELER.

